Today's Opinions

To the editor: In interest of transparency and full-disclosure, your piece on the healthcare rally at Rourk Gardens could use a little fleshing-out.

Like dozens of similar “spontaneous” gatherings of “grassroots” organizations intent on blocking desperately needed healthcare reform, the driver behind the wheel of the Americans for Prosperity bus that rolled into Shallotte is a guy named Tim Phillips.

To the editor: The N.C. puppy mill bill has again been ignored. I am disappointed in N.C.’s legislators. Elected officials are more interested in organizations with lobbying efforts (NRA/AKC) than the interest of voters.

The taxpayers of N.C. will pay for the cleanup of these mills. The breeder will make money by selling puppies. The puppy mill dogs will continue to live a life confined, without basic care until they can no longer produce puppies. Then, they will be taken to your local animal control, where you–the taxpayer—will pay to euthanize them.

To the editor: This is in response to Jean Crowley’s letter regarding Mayor Selby and about discord in Carolina Shores.

Ms. Crowley worked for the town for 42 months, 17 of them with Mayor Selby. She did not work with him for three and a half years. The implication she did is a good example of the misinformation circulating in Carolina Shores.

After observing the disharmony in our town, I ask this of elected officials and candidates for office:

In a time when a difficult economy marks many cutbacks, declines and belt-tightening, it’s good to see some growth in an important part of our community–Brunswick Community College.

Registration is now under way at BCC and through its early registration period, student numbers have already exceeded last year’s total fall enrollment numbers.

BCC President Stephen Greiner said the school would not turn students away. Its first priority will be to fill all seats in its classes, then, if needed, add more classes to accommodate the community’s needs.

Nancy Janovetz is one tough cookie, and as president of Paw’s Place Animal Rescue, she has to be.

At the no-kill, nonprofit rescue facility for unwanted and abandoned dogs, Janovetz has seen just about everything.

She knows how heartbreaking it can be to take in animals owners no longer want. She knows how challenging it is to care for litters of puppies that are born because human owners failed to have pets spayed or neutered. She knows the responsibility of giving an animal proper medical care when previous owners have failed to, or can’t, do so.

Gloria Hillenburg, the “Turtlelady,” and coordinator of the Ocean Isle Beach Turtle Patrol, said 83 baby sea turtles were stolen from their nest early Thursday, and their eggs scattered across the sand nearby.

While baby turtles usually head into the ocean themselves soon after hatching, there were no prints to indicate their departure, and a gaping hole is now where the babies were once safely nestled. That’s led Hillenburg and authorities to believe they were stolen.

To the editor: Those of us that choose to live out of city limits or out of gated communities do it for different reasons. One common bond is peace and quiet.

My wife chose the four acres we live on for the many species of wildlife we encounter and being able to take our golf cart and kayak trailer through the woods without navigating numbers of weekend pleasure cruisers.

We are avid stargazers, but that may soon end.

Being out in the country has its disadvantages. We are now challenged by a developer that has bought 60-plus acres